Axios

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) is facing bipartisan uproar from colleagues for a social media post disparaging Haitians, with Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) even filing a motion to censure him.

Why it matters: The move by Horsford, the Congressional Black Caucus chair, comes after multiple Democratic lawmakers confronted Higgins on the floor about the post in a heated exchange.

In one of their final leadership rodeos, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) successfully passed a clean, temporary spending measure to avert a government shutdown — at least until December.

Why it matters: A majority of Republicans joined the chamber's Democrats in supporting the legislation, despite former President Trump's demands for election security measures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova.

Why it matters: The demand is part of a growing firestorm around Zelensky's Monday visit to a factory in Pennsylvania that manufactures ammunition for Ukraine.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a sexual misconduct allegation against one of its agents by a member of Vice President Kamala Harris' staff.

State of play: A Secret Service spokesperson told Axios in a statement that an investigation is underway over "a misconduct allegation involving an employee."

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is investigating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania on Monday.

Why it matters: The probe is sure to deepen already-simmering tensions between Zelensky and allies of former President Trump over the GOP presidential nominee's growing criticism of U.S. support for Ukraine.

President Biden said he was "confident" that he would have beaten former President Trump in the 2024 election during a Wednesday interview on "The View."

Why it matters: Biden initially resisted calls to withdraw from the 2024 race, even as he faced mounting pressure from members in his party to step aside and polling that showed Trump with an edge.

The U.S. is "intensely tracking" Iranian threats against current and former senior government officials, including former President Trump, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Federal agencies have already said that Iran has worked to "undermine confidence" in U.S. elections, and violence has continuously manifested in the presidential campaigns.

On Wednesday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris will seek to put some meat on the bones of her economic agenda, intending to convey that pragmatism will be her guiding economic principle.

The big picture: Her speech in Pittsburgh is aimed at assuring voters that she is no wild-eyed radical on economic issues, but rather a leader who embraces the strengths of capitalism while wanting to rein in its excesses.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "half-hearted settlement plans" in his UN General Assembly address Wednesday, saying alternatives ignore "the suffering of the Ukrainians" and give "Putin the political space to continue the war."

The big picture: More than two years into the war with Russia, the Ukrainian leader continues to call for the global stage to direct its attention to the embattled nation.

Secret Service planning failures preceding the first assassination attempt on former President Trump were "foreseeable" and "preventable," according to a preliminary report from a bipartisan Senate probe released Wednesday.

The big picture: It's the latest fallout for the embattled agency, which has faced months of scrutiny and turmoil since a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one and wounding the Republican presidential nominee and two others.

As the 2024 election cycle ramps up, at least 26 states have passed or are considering bills regulating the use of generative AI in election-related communications, a new analysis by Axios shows.

Why it matters: The review lays bare a messy patchwork of rules around the use of genAI in politics, as experts increasingly sound the alarm on the evolving technology's power to sway or disenfranchise voters.

Republicans nationwide have offered disjointed responses to the controversy swirling around North Carolina's Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whose campaign for governor is now in free fall.

Why it matters: Last week's bombshell CNN report, which uncovered unsavory comments Robinson allegedly made as an active participant on a porn site message board, has rattled his party.

Right for America PAC, a Palm Beach, Florida-based super PAC backing former President Trump, has booked a monster $40 million in ad spending between Labor Day and Election Day, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: This is a notable boost for the Trump campaign, which is being outraised and outspent by the Harris campaign.

Vice President Kamala Harris will outline her economic vision to grow the middle class during a Pittsburgh speech Wednesday, as she seeks to draw clear contrasts between her policies and those of former President Trump.

Why it matters: The Harris campaign believes this speech could help define the Democratic presidential nominee as a champion of the middle class and Trump as being for billionaires, as she emphasizes her middle-class upbringing and his more prosperous start to life.

President Biden has spent nearly a year plotting and praying he could help prevent the war in Gaza from spreading. The rapidly expanding conflict between Israel and Hezbollah signals his power has reached its limit.

Why it matters: U.S. officials privately admit the massive fighting that's killed more than 700 people in Lebanon looks like another war — even if the Biden administration doesn't officially call it one.

Donald Trump's fixation with tariffs has become an obsession — a policy panacea he claims will fuel a manufacturing boom, lower grocery prices, cut the deficit, stop wars, pay for tax breaks and even solve the child care crisis.

• "Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented," the former president declared at a town hall in Michigan last week.

Why it matters: The impact of Trump's plan to impose massive tariffs — with or without the support of Congress — has become the single biggest economic question of the 2024 election.

For two decades, Vice President Harris has opposed the death penalty. Now her campaign is declining to say whether she'd fight to end it as president.

Why it matters: Harris and her team have dodged questions about what she believes on several policy fronts as she's changed some of the liberal positions she's held.

Former President Trump said early Wednesday after his campaign announced intelligence officials had briefed him on Iran's efforts to assassinate him that he believes Tehran "will try again."

The big picture: The 2024 election has seen a spike in political threats, with two assassination attempts on Trump, shots being fired into Vice President Harris' campaign office in Tempe, Arizona, and election officials targeted.

Here's the backstory on why Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was just able to announce a fast-track vote Wednesday on the government funding bill: Republican senators emerged from their weekly lunch Tuesday ready to move it along.

Why it matters: Lawmakers were eager to get home — especially those facing tough re-election races or whose states may be hit by an approaching hurricane.

Democratic leaders are telling their party's biggest donors that keeping Montana's Senate seat blue is a real challenge. However, they are planning to go on offense in Florida to retain their majority, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Without Montana, the math for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to keep his job gets very difficult.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump will appear at two separate town halls in front of a Spanish-speaking audience next month, Univision announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: One of the largest U.S. Spanish-language broadcasters is putting the presidential candidates before a key voting bloc, Hispanic voters, to face questions on the economy, jobs, health care, immigration and foreign policy.

The really uncomfortable question for House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday isn't whether he can pass a government spending stopgap. It's how many votes he'll need to borrow from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat who wants his job.

Why it matters: It used to be unthinkable for a GOP speaker to call a vote in which they couldn't win a majority of the majority of their party members on a vote. But Johnson has failed that test twice this year.

Prosecutors announced Ryan Wesley Routh was indicted Tuesday on charges of attempted assassination of former President Trump at his Florida golf course.

The big picture: A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging Routh with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate and four other counts in connection with the Sept. 15 incident, including assaulting a federal police officer.